Associations

Following are some organizations to improve your effectiveness as a competitive intelligence professional.

First and foremost is SCIP, the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals formed in 1986. SCIP has around 4,000 members and a global reach. The association hosts annual conferences in the US and Europe as well as numerous educational events in competitive intelligence throughout the year. Members receive the Competitive Intelligence Magazine every two months and CI Online, a bi-monthly newsletter packed with tidbits.  The SCIP membership directory is available to members on-line. Look at SCIP’s website for more information on competitive intelligence seminars, conferences and job postings at www.scip.org.

Other associations listed in alphabetical order, depending on your interest:

American Society of Industrial Security (ASIS) International http://www.asisonline.org

Association of Former Intelligence Officers www.afio.org counterintelligence focus

Association of Independent Information Professionals (AIIP) www.aiip.org

American Marketing Association (AMA) http://www.marketingpower.com

Business Espionage Controls & Countermeasures Association www.becca-online.org

Business Marketing Assocation (BMA) http://www.bma.org MARCOM focus

Knowledge Management Professional Society (KMPro) http://kkmpro.org

Marketing Research Association (MRA) http://www.mra-net.org

OPSEC (Operations Security Professionals Society) http://www.opsec.org

Product Development Management Association (PDMA) http://www.pdma.org

The Knowledge Management Benchmarking Association™ (KMBA™) http://kmba.org